Senior Metallurgist

Located approximately 26 miles from the City of Fairbanks, Fort Knox is a centre of excellence for the Company as one of the few cold weather heap leach facilities in the world. Fort Knox celebrated its 25-year anniversary in 2021, and has produced over 8.5 million ounces since it began operation. In 2020, Kinross acquired Manh Choh – a project expected to commence production in 2024 and process ore at Fort Knox.

Fort Knox prioritizes being a strong contributor to the State and local communities, and since 2001, has helped support more than 300 community partners and has contributed more than US$25 million to the Alaska Mental Health Trust.

Job Summary

Provide daily technical support to mill and heap operations for troubleshooting and correcting metallurgical and production problems. Supervise and direct the work of Mill Metallurgist, Metallurgical technicians and Refinery operator activities. Develop and execute lab and plant metallurgical studies aimed at improving mill throughput, recovery, and costs. Work with the Chief Metallurgist to maintain metallurgical accounting practices and review of daily, monthly, and metallurgical reports. Has specific responsibility for establishing the gravity circuit operating guidelines and for optimization of circuit performance.

Essential Functions

• Work with mill operations supervisors daily to assist in troubleshooting and solving metallurgical problems.
• Directly Supervise activities of Metallurgical team to include Plant Metallurgist (exempt) and Metallurgical Technicians (non-exempt).
• Responsible for recruiting Metallurgical personnel and Gold Room/Refinery Operators
• Responsible for technical development and training of the Metallurgist, metallurgical technicians and Refinery Operators.
• Fill in for Chief Metallurgist in their absence.
• Monitor and evaluate metallurgical performance of the mill and heap leach and develop and execute test programs for improving mill recovery, throughput, and costs. Responsible for preparation of monthly status and final reports on all technical studies.
• Conduct weekly safety meetings with metallurgical and refinery staff.
• Responsible for monitoring operation of mill and heap leach sampling systems and sampling practices.
• Responsible for mill metallurgical accounting practices and review of all metallurgical balances.
• Has specific responsibility for establishing heap leach operating guidelines as well as circuit optimization to maximize gold recovery.
• Stays current with new developments in metallurgical technology.
• Advise the management team on mineral processing improvements
• Interacts with Geology, Mine Planning, and Ore Control personnel to define characteristics of ore reserves. Also responsible for evaluation of new ore types and developing alternate processes for refractory gold ores.
• Interacts with the Environmental Department on affairs related to gold ore processing.
• Assumes responsibility for personal advancement of technical and management skills.
• Interacts with the process control technician to develop new control strategies for improving mill and heap leach performance.
• Punctuality and regular attendance are required.
• Compliance with all company policies and procedures, including, but not limited to safety, confidentiality and environmental policies.
• Meet or exceed established performance expectations set by management.
• Possession of a valid driver’s license issued by the state.
• Work without significant risk of harm to self and others.
• Maintain accurate records and files.
• Consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in job performance.
• Responsible for conducting performance evaluations, recommending promotions and carrying out corrective actions as needed.
• Investigate, analyze and supervise the documentation of accidents, injuries and equipment damage, and recommend prevention strategies as necessary.
• Perform other related functions as assigned by the supervisor management team.
• Design and carry out laboratory process simulation testwork using bench-scale grindability models. Scale-up from bench-scale results. Design plant testwork and coordinate to run plant trials. Report findings with recommendations to senior leadership team.
• Helps develop other personnel to perform duties listed above
• Write up procedures for performing routine sampling and testwork in the process

Qualifications and Skill Requirements

• Employee must have sufficient education to read and write instructions, perform simple mathematical calculations, and keep records.
• Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering or related field required.
• Minimum of five years’ experience in operations or technical support, including two years in precious metals and financial evaluation preferred.
• Strong verbal, written, analytical and persuasive skills and the ability to interact effectively with all levels of employees and management.
• Attention to detail, a clear sense of priorities and effective time management skills.
• Result / team orientation and superior business sense.
• Self-motivated individual with the reputation of having a consistent sustained initiative within an organizational environment.
• Demonstrate work ethic that shows, by example how to get things done.
• Good working knowledge and skills with a P.C. utilizing word processing and spreadsheet programs.
• Requires an understanding of computer modeling.
• Ability to work independently and also as a member of the management team.
• Ability to function within the qualifications outlined in the attached physical demands sheets.
• May direct the work of project teams and/or provide training and guidance to other professionals
• Reports to the Chief Metallurgist

Health, Safety and Environmental Requirements

• Adheres to all safety and environmental considerations.
• Have a strong commitment to safe working practices. 
• Strongly committed to working above the line in See It, Own It, Solve It, Do It.
• Is alert and observes, corrects, and reports unsafe conditions. 
• Follows operating procedures and complies with all regulatory requirements. 

Kinross is a Canadian-based global senior gold mining company with operations and projects in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile, and Canada. Our focus on delivering value is based on our core principles of responsible mining, operational excellence, disciplined growth and balance sheet strength. Kinross maintains listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol:K) and the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:KGC).